Malaysia fund in talks for Acibadem stake

Istanbul, September 24, 2011

Malaysian state fund Khazanah Nasional is in talks with Almond Holding, a JV between Dubai-based private equity group Abraaj Capital and Turkish family Aydinlar, to buy a stake in Turkish hospital group Acibadem, said a report citing sources.

Integrated Healthcare, Khazanah's 70 per cent-owned healthcare unit, is in talks with Acibadem's biggest shareholder, Almond Holding, which owns a 92 per cent stake in the hospital group, in a deal that could be worth at least $500 million, said the sources.

Abraaj Capital holds a 46 per cent stake in Almond, while the rest is held by Turkish family Aydinlar.

"The sellers have multiple buyers at this point, and Integrated Healthcare is one of the interested parties," one of the sources told Reuters.

The source told Reuters that the equity structure of the deal has not been fixed.

While Abraaj has expressed an interest to sell its stake in Acibadem, the Aydinlar party has not decided if it will also sell outright or if it will undertake a new joint venture with the new shareholder.

A Khazanah spokesman declined to comment for the story, while Aabraj could not be immediately reached.

One of the sources said that Integrated Healthcare is seeking advice from Deutsche Bank for the purchase of the stake in Acibadem. Deutsche also advised Khazanah on its purchase of Singapore's Parkway last year.

Deutsche declined to comment for this story.

The stake sale is being conducted by Goldman Sachs and Merrill Lynch and should be completed before the end of the year, the source added.

"It's expected to only get done in early December. There's no due diligence yet with just information having been exchanged," he said.

Khazanah, which has numerous interests including banking and aviation, has identified healthcare as one of its key businesses amidst a government call for the fund to pare down its stake in corporates to improve market liquidity.-Reuters